Greyhound trainers won't run from industry's awful truth

Andrew Korner
Journalist
Andrew was born and bred in Ipswich and has been at the QT since 2007. After starting out on the country rounds, he moved onto court reporting and then police and emergency services, which he has now been covering for the last three years. When he is not working on police rounds Andrew is busy sifting through the garbage of famous people, in search of ideas for his weekly column, the Naughty Korner. As there are very few famous people in Ipswich, Andrew is often forced to write his column about...

REVELATIONS of live baiting have reverberated down to the grass roots level of greyhound racing, but experienced Ipswich trainers say the controversy could result in the clean-up that the sport needs.

At the first race meeting since the sensational Four Corners program went to air Monday night, there was a mix of disappointment and optimism among those who stand by the sport and the vast majority of people involved in it.

Former Ipswich Greyhound Racing Club president and current trainer Rob Essex said he was devastated by what he'd witnessed while watching the ABC program.

"In greyhound racing you have trainers at the very top level, then you have your middle trainers, then you have your average trainers," he said.

"The middle trainers work tirelessly trying to get results but they don't seem to get them. Before the show last night, I would have said that the top trainers are using something, and if you'd put me on the spot, I would have said that it's some kind of drug that they can get hold of and know they can get away with."

Mr Essex said he was against live baiting because it was cruel to the animals involved and because it was a form of cheating.

"Every one of these guys that has done the wrong thing needs to go," he said.